Interim CFO chosen for DIA while national search for permanent hire continues

Denver International Airport is still looking for a new Chief Financial Officer, but has selected Senior Vice President George Karayiannakis to serve as Acting Deputy CFO in the meantime.

Alex Renteria, a spokeswoman for DIA, said the airport will be conducting a national search to find a new CFO to take over permanently. There is currently no timeline for when a new CFO will be officially picked. 

Karayiannakis has previously served as DIA’s Senior Vice President of Finance and Senior Vice President of Airline Affairs.

Gisela Shanahan, the former CFO, resigned Aug. 10 for “personal reasons and to spend more time with her grandchildren.” Shanahan was appointed in May 2015 after the position was left empty for more than eight months.

Shanahan led the financial and strategic management of the airport’s capital program and operating budget with annual revenues of about $900 million, according to DIA, and a $1.4 billion capital program. 

She also oversaw the Gate Expansion Program, which is planned to add 39 new gates and increase the overall airport gate capacity by 30%.  

This transfer in CFO comes at a time that the DIA’s terminal renovation is facing a money problem on one of it's major projects. 

According to The Denver Post, the marquee terminal renovation is headed for a severe budget crunch that threatens to leave major elements of the project unfinished or significantly curtailed. 

Construction on the first phase of DIA’s Great Hall project resumed in march with a new team of contractors, after the original project managers were taken off the project. The Post reports that $170 million of the project’s $770 million budget remain for later phases, which includes the security checkpoints’ relocation and the reconfiguration of some airline check-in areas.

“It hasn’t been until recently that we’ve really been able to drill down to the 170 number,” Cristal DeHerrera, DIA’s chief of staff, told The Post last week. “Do we wish it were more? Yeah, I wish it was more. But it’s not, and (we) have to deal with that reality.”